Methods and systems for authenticating a headset for a transportation vehicle

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for a transportation vehicle are provided. For example, one method includes storing a key on a device of a transportation vehicle and a headset; generating a challenge by the device using the key when the headset is connected to the device; presenting the challenge to the headset by the device; creating a response to the challenge by the headset; presenting the response to the device; validating the response by the device; and enabling a data line for the headset by the device when the response is valid.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to authenticating use of a headset for atransportation vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Transportation vehicles, for example, aircraft, trains, buses,recreation vehicle, boats and other similar vehicles use variouscomputing devices for providing many functions, including conductingcommercial transactions for goods/services, accessing and playingentertainment content and others. These devices include hardware (forexample, servers, switches, network interface cards, storage adapters,storage devices and others) and software (for example, serverapplications, operating systems, firmware, management applications,application programming interface (APIs) and others).

Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports are commonly used for connectingperipheral devices using USB cables. USB is an industry standard thatdefines cables, connectors and communications protocols for a bus forconnection, communication, and power supply between computers andvarious electronic devices. USB ports provide a connection forperipherals (including smart phones, video game consoles, PDAs,keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers, portable mediaplayers, disk drives and network adapters) to computing devices, both tocommunicate and to supply electric power.

USB ports may have security vulnerabilities and are often turned off insecured environments, for example, on an aircraft. In some instances,the USB ports on an aircraft are disabled for data transfer but may beused for charging devices. Continuous efforts are being made to securelyand efficiently use USB ports in secured environments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various features of the present disclosure will now be describedwith reference to the drawings of the various aspects disclosed herein.In the drawings, the same components may have the same referencenumerals. The illustrated aspects are intended to illustrate, but not tolimit the present disclosure. The drawings include the followingFigures:

FIG. 1A shows an example of an operating environment for implementingthe various aspects of the present disclosure in an aircraft;

FIG. 1B shows an example of the operating environment on anothertransportation vehicle type, according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a content distribution system, used accordingto one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows an example of a system for authenticating a headset,according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an authentication process flow, according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 shows an example of a hardware based, processing system, usedaccording to one aspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As a preliminary note, the terms “component”, “module”, “system”, andthe like as used herein are intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either software-executing general purpose processor, hardware,firmware or a combination thereof. For example, a component may be, butis not limited to being, a process running on a hardware processor, ahardware processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, aprogram, and/or a computer.

By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and theserver can be a component. One or more components may reside within aprocess and/or thread of execution, and a component may be localized onone computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,these components can execute from various computer readable media havingvarious data structures stored thereon. The components may communicatevia local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signalhaving one or more data packets (e.g., data from one componentinteracting with another component in a local system, distributedsystem, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systemsvia the signal).

Computer executable components can be stored, for example, atnon-transitory, computer/machine readable media including, but notlimited to, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), CD(compact disc), DVD (digital video disk), ROM (read only memory), harddisk, EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory),solid state memory device or any other storage device, in accordancewith the claimed subject matter.

In one aspect, methods and systems for a transportation vehicle areprovided. For example, one method includes storing a shared key at adevice of a transportation vehicle and a headset; generating a challengeby the device using the shared key when the headset is connected to thedevice; presenting the challenge to the headset by the device; creatinga response to the challenge by the headset; presenting the response tothe device; validating the response by the device; and enabling a dataline for the headset by the device, when the response is valid.

In another aspect, a method for authenticating a headset on an aircraftis provided. The method includes generating a challenge by a seat deviceof the aircraft using a shared key after the headset is connected to aUSB port; creating a response to the challenge by the headset using theshared key; validating the response by the seat device; and enabling adata line for the headset by the seat device, when the response from theheadset is valid.

Vehicle Information System:

FIG. 1A shows an example of a generic vehicle information system 100A(also referred to as system 100A) that can be configured forinstallation aboard an aircraft 132 providing a USB port for power aswell as for data, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Thesystem authenticates an audio headset before enabling the headset toaccess audio content, as described below in detail.

As an example, system 100A can comprise a conventional aircraftpassenger in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, such as the Series 2000,3000, eFX, eX1, eX2, eX3, eXW, eXO and/or any other in-flightentertainment system developed and provided by Panasonic AvionicsCorporation (without derogation of any trademark rights of PanasonicAvionics Corporation) of Lake Forest, Calif.

System 100A may include a content source 113 and one or more user (orpassenger) interface systems (may also be referred to as a seatbackdevice) 114 that communicate with a real-time content distributionsystem 104. The content source 113 may include one or more internalcontent sources, such as a media server system 112, that are installedaboard the aircraft 132, one or more remote (or terrestrial) contentsources 116 that can be external from the aircraft 132, or a distributedcontent system. The media server system 112 can be provided as aninformation system controller for providing overall system controlfunctions for system 100A and/or for storing viewing content 124. Theviewing content 124 may include pre-programmed viewing content and/orany content 120 received via a satellite communication system 122, asdesired. The viewing content 124 can include television programmingcontent, music content, podcast content, photograph album content,audiobook content, and/or movie content without limitation. The viewingcontent 124 as shown and described herein are not exhaustive and areprovided herein for purposes of illustration only and not for purposesof limitation.

The server system 112 can include, and/or communicate with, one or moreconventional peripheral media storage systems (not shown), includingoptical media devices, such as a digital video disk (DVD) system or acompact disk (CD) system, and/or magnetic media systems, such as a videocassette recorder (VCR) system, a solid state drive (SSD) system, orother forms of non-volatile memory (NVM), or a hard disk drive (HDD)system, of any suitable kind, for storing the preprogrammed contentand/or the viewing content 120.

The viewing content 124 can comprise any conventional type of audioand/or video viewing content, such as stored (or time-delayed) viewingcontent and/or live (or real-time) viewing content. As desired, theviewing content 124 can include geographical information. Alternatively,and/or additionally, to entertainment content, such as live satellitetelevision programming and/or live satellite radio programming, theviewing content likewise can include a public announcement and two-waycommunications, such as real-time access to the Internet 118 and/ortelecommunications.

Being configured to distribute and/or present the viewing content 124provided by one or more selected content sources 113, system 100A cancommunicate with the content sources 113 in real time and in anyconventional manner, including via wired and/or wireless communications.System 100A and the terrestrial content source 116, for example, cancommunicate directly and/or indirectly via an intermediate communicationsystem, such as a satellite communication system 122. System 100Athereby can receive content 120 from a selected terrestrial contentsource 116 via satellite communication system 122 and/or transmitcontent 128 to the satellite communication system 122, includingnavigation and other control instructions, to the terrestrial contentsource 116.

As desired, the terrestrial content source 116 can be configured tocommunicate with other terrestrial content sources (not shown). Althoughshown and described as comprising the satellite communication system 122for purposes of illustration, the communication system can comprise anyconventional type of wireless communication system, such as a cellularcommunication system (not shown) and/or other aircraft to off-boardcommunication system (not shown).

To facilitate communications with the terrestrial content sources 116,system 100A may also include an antenna system 110 and a transceiversystem 108 for receiving the viewing content from the remote (orterrestrial) content sources 116. The antenna system 110 preferably isdisposed outside, such as an exterior surface of a fuselage 136 of theaircraft 132. The antenna system 110 can receive content 120 from theterrestrial content source 116 and provide the received content 120 asviewing content 124, as processed by the transceiver system 108, to acomputer system 106 of system 100A. The computer system 106 can providethe received content 120 to the media (or content) server system 112and/or directly to one or more of the user interfaces 114, as desired.Although shown and described as being separate systems for purposes ofillustration, the computer system 106 and the media server system 112can be at least partially or fully integrated.

The user interface system 114 may be computing terminals incommunication with an access point 130. The user interface system 114provides a display device, for example, a smart monitor, to viewcontent. The user interface system 114 includes a hardware interface toconnect to an access point 130 that provides a wired and/or a wirelessconnection for the user interface system. In at least one embodiment,the user interface system (also referred to as a seatback device) 114comprises a software application that a user downloads and installs on apersonal user device carried aboard by a user (a personal electronicdevice or “PED”) to receive and view content via an access point 130.While bandwidth limitation issues may occur in a wired system on avehicle, such as an aircraft 132, in general the wired portion of thevehicle information 100A system is designed with sufficient bandwidth tosupport all users aboard the vehicle, i.e., passengers.

The user interface system 114 can include an input system (not shown)for permitting the user (or passenger) to communicate with system 100A,such as via an exchange of control signals 138. For example, the inputsystem can permit the user to enter one or more user instructions 140for controlling the operation of system 100A. Illustrative userinstructions 140 can include instructions for initiating communicationwith the content source 113, instructions for selecting viewing content124 for presentation, and/or instructions for controlling thepresentation of the selected viewing content 124. If a fee is requiredfor accessing the viewing content 124, for a Wi-Fi session, orderingfood/beverages, shopping or for any other reason, payment informationcan be obtained using a seat device and/or a PED. In one aspect, theuser interface system 114 is provided at individual passenger seats ofaircraft 132. The user interface system 114 can be adapted to differentaircrafts and seating arrangements.

FIG. 1B shows an example of implementing the vehicle information system100B (may be referred to as system 100B) on an automobile 134 that mayinclude a bus, a recreational vehicle, a boat, and/or a train, or anyother type of passenger vehicle without limitation. The variouscomponents of system 100B may be similar to the components of system100A described above with respect to FIG. 1A and for brevity are notdescribed again.

Content Distribution System:

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the content distribution system 104 forthe vehicle information system 200 (similar to 100A/100B), according toone aspect of the present disclosure. The content distribution system104 couples, and supports communication between the server system 112,and the plurality of user interface systems 114.

The content distribution system 104, for example, can be provided as aconventional wired and/or wireless communication network, including atelephone network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a campus area network (CAN), personal area network (PAN) and/or awireless local area network (WLAN), of any kind. Exemplary wirelesslocal area networks include wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks inaccordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)Standard 802.11 and/or wireless metropolitan-area networks (MANS), whichalso are known as WiMax Wireless Broadband, in accordance with IEEEStandard 802.16. Preferably being configured to support high datatransfer rates, the content distribution system 104 may comprise ahigh-speed Ethernet network, such as any type of Fast Ethernet (such as100 Base-X and/or 100 Base-T) communication network and/or Gigabit (suchas 1000 Base-X and/or 1000 Base-T) Ethernet communication network, witha typical data transfer rate of at least approximately one hundredmegabits per second (100 Mbps) or any other transfer rate. To achievehigh data transfer rates in a wireless communications environment,free-space optics (or laser) technology, millimeter wave (or microwave)technology, and/or Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology can be utilized tosupport communications among the various system resources, as desired.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the distribution system 104 can be provided asa plurality of area distribution boxes (ADBs) 206, a plurality of floordisconnect boxes (FDBs) 208, and a plurality of seat electronics boxes(SEBs) (and/or video seat electronics boxes (VSEBs) and/or premium seatelectronics boxes (PSEBs)) 210 being configured to communicate in realtime via a plurality of wired and/or wireless communication connections212. The distribution system 104 likewise can include a switching system202 for providing an interface between the distribution system 104 andthe server system 112. The switching system 202 can comprise aconventional switching system, such as an Ethernet switching system, andis configured to couple the server system 112 with the area distributionboxes 206. Each of the area distribution boxes 206 is coupled with, andcommunicates with, the switching system 202. In addition, thedistribution system 104 includes one or more wireless access points(WAPs) (130A to 130N) connected in communication with the switch system202 for wireless distribution of content.

Each of the area distribution boxes 202, in turn, is coupled with, andcommunicates with, at least one floor disconnect box 208. Although thearea distribution boxes 206 and the associated floor disconnect boxes208 can be coupled in any conventional configuration, the associatedfloor disconnect boxes 208 preferably are disposed in a star networktopology about a central area distribution box 206 as illustrated inFIG. 2. Each floor disconnect box 208 is coupled with, and services, aplurality of daisy-chains of seat electronics boxes 210. The seatelectronics boxes 210, in turn, are configured to communicate with theuser interface systems 114. Each seat electronics box 210 can supportone or more of the user interface systems 114.

The switching systems 202, the area distribution boxes 206, the floordisconnect boxes 208, the seat electronics boxes (and/or video seatelectronics boxes (VSEBs) and/or premium seat electronics boxes (PSEBs))210, the antenna system 110, the transceiver system 108, the contentsource 113, the server system 112, and other system resources of thevehicle information system preferably are provided as line replaceableunits (LRUs). The use of LRUs facilitate maintenance of the vehicleinformation system 200 because a defective LRU can simply be removedfrom the vehicle information system 200 and replaced with a new (ordifferent) LRU. The defective LRU thereafter can be repaired forsubsequent installation. Advantageously, the use of LRUs can promoteflexibility in configuring the content distribution system 104 bypermitting ready modification of the number, arrangement, and/orconfiguration of the system resources of the content distribution system104. The content distribution system 104 likewise can be readilyupgraded by replacing any obsolete LRUs with new LRUs.

The distribution system 104 may also include at least one FDB internalport bypass connection 214 and/or at least one SEB loopback connection216. Each FDB internal port bypass connection 214 is a communicationconnection 212 that permits floor disconnect boxes 208 associated withdifferent area distribution boxes 206 to directly communicate. Each SEBloopback connection 216 is a communication connection 212 that directlycouples the last seat electronics box 210 in each daisy-chain of seatelectronics boxes 210 for a selected floor disconnect box 208 as shownin FIG. 2. Each SEB loopback connection 216 therefore forms a loopbackpath among the daisy-chained seat electronics boxes 210 coupled with therelevant floor disconnect box 208.

It is noteworthy that the various aspects of the present disclosure maybe implemented without using FDB 208. When FDB 208 is not used, ADB 206communicates directly with SEB 210 and/or server system 112 maycommunicate directly with SEB 210 or the seats. The various aspects ofthe present disclosure are not limited to any specific networkconfiguration.

Headset Authentication System:

FIG. 3 shows an example of a system 300 for authenticating a headset 330at a transportation vehicle, for example, an aircraft, using a USB port318 that is conventionally disabled for data, according to one aspect ofthe present disclosure. System 300 shows a seat device 302 that isavailable at a passenger seat that presents audio/video content. Seatdevice 302 may be positioned in front of the passenger seat, coupled tothe chair or placed in a manner that enables the passenger to viewcontent at the seat device. The various aspects of the presentdisclosure are not limited to any specific orientation of the seatdevice 302.

Seat device 302 includes a communication interface 320 that communicateswith other systems (for example, media server 112, computer system 106and other devices, for example, PEDs and/or crew devices). Seat device302 also includes a display 321 that displays content to a user. In oneaspect, display 321 may operate as a touch screen to receive user inputdirectly at the seat device 302.

Seat device 302 may include one or more processors 304 having access toa memory 306 and storage 308. The processor 304 controls the overalloperation of the seat device 302. In certain aspects, processor 304accomplishes this by executing software instructions out of memory 306.

Processor 304 may be, or may include, one or more programmablegeneral-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or thelike, or a combination of such devices. Memory 306 represents any formof random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, orthe like, or a combination of such devices. Storage device 308 may be,or may include any conventional medium for storing data in anon-volatile manner, such as one or more solid state devices, magneticor optical based disks or any other type of storage.

In one aspect, seat device 302 executes a process or IFE layer 314 forproviding audio/video content. In one aspect, the IFE layer 314 or aportion thereof may also be executed on an onboard computing system, forexample, the media server system 112.

The seat device 302 may also execute a challenge generator 310 that usesa shared key 312 to generate a challenge for a headset that is connectedusing the USB port 318. The key, sometimes referred to as a pre-sharedkey (PSK), may be a password, pass phrase, hexadecimal string, or othertype of string. In one aspect, the challenge generator 310 may beexecuted at the media server system 112 or an authorized PED that ispaired or associated with the seat device 302 and/or the media serversystem 112. The adaptive aspects of the present disclosure are notlimited to any specific location from where the challenge generator 310is executed.

The USB port includes a power line 317 that is typically enabled forcharging when a device is connected. The data line 319 is enabled uponthe inventive authentication described herein.

In one aspect, the headset 330 is coupled to the USB port 318 using aUSB cable 322. The form factor used by the cable 322 or the USB port 318may conform to any variation of the USB standard. In general, there arethree basic formats of USB connectors: the default or standard formatintended for desktop or portable equipment (for example, on USB flashdrives), the mini intended for mobile equipment and the thinner microsize, for low-profile mobile equipment. The various adaptive aspectsdescribed herein are not limited to any specific connector type orversion of USB, for example, USB 1.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1 and/orUSB on the go.

Headset 330 includes an interface 324 that receives cable 322. Headset330 also includes processing logic 326 that has access to a memory 332that may be a read only memory or any other memory type. Memory 332stores the shared key 334 which is similar to the shared key 312 or acopy thereof. The processing logic 326 executes a response generator 338that uses the shared key 334 to generate a response to a challengereceived from the challenge generator 310, as described below in detail.

When headset 330 is plugged into the USB port 318, power line 317 isenabled immediately. The challenge generator 310 then computes achallenge using the shared key 312. The challenge may be a 256-bitchallenge.

The headset 330 receives the challenge via interface 324. The responsegenerator 338 uses the shared key 334 (which is the shared key 312) togenerate a hash value. In one aspect, the response generator 338 uses akeyed-hash message authentication code (HMAC) technique involving acryptographic hash function using the shared key 334 to generate theresponse. Any cryptographic hash function, for example, MD5, SHA-1 orany other type, may be used in the calculation of an HMAC. Thecryptographic strength of the HMAC depends upon the cryptographicstrength of the underlying hash function, the size of its hash output,and on the size and quality of the key. The response is provided to theseat device 302. The response is then verified by the challengegenerator 310.

In another aspect, AES 256 or asymmetric encryption technique with adigital signature may be used to authenticate the headset 330. Thevarious aspects described herein are not limited to any specificauthentication technique.

Once the response from the headset 330 is validated, the data line 319is enabled for receiving further communications from the headset, suchas audio content. The audio content is processed by an audio processor328 and presented to ear piece 336A/336B. In one aspect, when headset330 has only one ear piece, then the audio is provided to the single earpiece. The adaptive aspects described herein are not limited to anyspecific number of ear pieces. Otherwise, if the headset 330 is notvalidated, further communications from the headset 330 are disabled.This permits the headset to 330 to operate as a passive audio device,without further security risk in receiving data from a suspect device.This advantageously permits a user that does not have a proper headset330 to continue hearing audio, albeit without the benefit of the audiobeing processed by the audio processor 328, while maintaining anadequate level of security.

Process Flow:

FIG. 4 shows a headset authentication process 400, according to oneaspect of the present disclosure. The process begins in block B402, whenthe headset 330 and seat device 302 are being configured. In one aspect,the configuration process is executed by a management console executinga management application (not shown). In block B404, a pre-shared key isstored at both the seat device 302 and the headset 330, for example, 312and 334 shown in FIG. 3. Once the keys are stored, the headset is readyfor use on the aircraft (or any other transportation vehicle).

In block B406, the headset 330 is plugged into the USB port 318 usingcable 322. The power line 317 is enabled for charging immediately,without authentication. In block B408, seat device 302 uses the sharedkey 312 to generate a challenge for the headset 330. In one aspect, thechallenge generator 310 generates a challenge using an encryptiontechnique, for example, 256-bit challenge, AES256 encryption orasymmetric encryption.

In block B410, the response generator 338 of the headset 330 computes ahash value using the shared key 334. The response is presented to theseat device 302 in block B412. The challenge generator 310 then verifiesif the response is valid, using the shared key 312. When the response isvalid, then in block B414, the data line 319 is enabled, otherwise,further communications from the headset 330 are disabled. This permitsthe headset 330 to continue to operate as a passive audio device,without further security risk in receiving any data from a suspectdevice. This advantageously permits a user to hear audio, albeit withoutthe benefit of audio processing.

The various aspects of the present disclosure, enable the use of aheadset using secure authentication at a transportation vehicle. Thisallows a passenger to use the USB port at the transportation vehiclewithout compromising the security of the vehicle.

Processing System:

FIG. 5 is a high-level block diagram showing an example of thearchitecture of a processing system 500 that may be used according toone aspect. The processing system 500 can represent seat device 302,computing systems 106 and/or 112, user system 114 or any other device.Note that certain standard and well-known components which are notgermane to the present aspects are not shown in FIG. 5.

The processing system 500 includes one or more processor(s) 502 andmemory 504, coupled to a bus system 505. The bus system 505 shown inFIG. 5 is an abstraction that represents any one or more separatephysical buses and/or point-to-point connections, connected byappropriate bridges, adapters and/or controllers. The bus system 505,therefore, may include, for example, a system bus, a PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus, a HyperTransport or industry standardarchitecture (ISA) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, auniversal serial bus (USB), or an Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus (sometimes referred to as“Firewire”) or any other interconnect type.

The processor(s) 502 are the central processing units (CPUs) of theprocessing system 500 and, thus, control its overall operation. Incertain aspects, the processors 502 accomplish this by executingsoftware stored in memory 504. A processor 502 may be, or may include,one or more programmable general-purpose or special-purposemicroprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), programmablecontrollers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), or the like, or a combination of suchdevices.

Memory 504 represents any form of random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, or the like, or a combination of suchdevices. Memory 504 includes the main memory of the processing system500. Instructions 506 may be used to implement the challenge generator310/response generator 338 and process steps of FIG. 4 described above.

Also connected to the processors 502 through the bus system 505 are oneor more internal mass storage devices 510, and a network adapter 512.Internal mass storage devices 510 may be, or may include anyconventional medium for storing large volumes of data in a non-volatilemanner, such as one or more magnetic, optical, or semiconductor baseddisks.

The network adapter 512 provides the processing system 500 with theability to communicate with remote devices (e.g., over a network) andmay be, for example, an Ethernet adapter or the like.

The processing system 500 also includes one or more input/output (I/O)devices 508 coupled to the bus system 505. The I/O devices 508 mayinclude, for example, a display device, a keyboard, a mouse, etc.

A method and apparatus for authenticating a headset using a USB port ona transportation vehicle have been described in the foregoingparagraphs. Note that references throughout this specification to “oneaspect” (or “embodiment”) or “an aspect” mean that a particular feature,structure or characteristic described in connection with the aspect isincluded in at least one aspect of the present disclosure. Therefore, itis emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to“an aspect” or “one aspect” or “an alternative aspect” in variousportions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame aspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures orcharacteristics being referred to may be combined as suitable in one ormore aspects of the disclosure, as will be recognized by those ofordinary skill in the art.

While the present disclosure is described above with respect to what iscurrently considered its preferred aspects, it is to be understood thatthe disclosure is not limited to that described above. To the contrary,the disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and equivalentarrangements within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A machine implemented method, the methodcomprising: storing a shared key on a device of a transportation vehicleand on a headset; generating a challenge for the handset by the device,using the shared key after the headset is connected to the device;presenting the challenge to the headset by the device; creating aresponse to the challenge by the headset using the shared key;presenting the response to the device; determining using the shared keyby the device whether the response is valid or invalid; enabling furthercommunications from the headset to the device, and the device to theheadset, when the response is valid; when the response is invalid,disabling further communication from the headset to the device, whilethe headset continues to receive audio from the device to operate onlyas a passive audio listening device; and disabling by the device, a dataline for the headset for receiving communication from the headset, afterthe headset is disconnected from the device.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein when the response is valid, the data line between the device andthe headset is enabled for sending and receiving communication.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a power line to power the headset is enabledbefore the headset is authenticated by the device.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the challenge is generated by a management server usingthe shared key, the management server communicating with the device. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the challenge is generated by a personalelectronic device using the shared key, the personal electronic devicepaired with the device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thetransportation vehicle is an aircraft.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe device is a seat device at the aircraft for at least presentingaudio content.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the headset isconnected to a universal serial bus (USB) port having the data line thatis disabled by default, prior to authentication of the headset.
 9. Amachine implemented method for authenticating a headset on an aircraft,the method comprising: generating a challenge by a seat device of theaircraft using a shared key after the headset is connected to auniversal serial bus (USB) port and powered by a power line prior tobeing authenticated; creating a response to the challenge by the headsetusing the shared key; determining using the shared key by the seatdevice, whether the response is valid or invalid; enabling furthercommunications from the headset to the seat device and the seat deviceto the headset, when the response is valid; and when the response isinvalid, disabling further communications from the headset to the seatdevice while the headset continues to receive audio from the from theseat device to operate only as a passive audio listening device; anddisabling by the seat device, a data line for the headset for receivingcommunication from the headset, after the headset is disconnected fromthe seat device.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the challenge isgenerated by a management server of the aircraft using the shared key,the management server communicating with the seat device.
 11. The methodof claim 9, wherein the challenge is generated by a personal electronicdevice using the shared key, the personal electronic device paired tothe seat device.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein an error message isgenerated by the seat device when the response is invalid.
 13. A systemcomprising: a device of a transportation vehicle including a memorycontaining machine readable medium comprising machine executable codeand a key; a processor module coupled to the memory, the processormodule configured to execute the machine executable code to generate achallenge by the device using the key, and a port including a data linethat is disabled by default; and a headset including processing logic,memory storing another the key, a challenge generator executable by theprocessing logic using the key, and a cable extending therefrom, thecable having a terminal insertable into the port; wherein when theterminal is plugged into the port of the device, the machine executablecode of the device generates the challenge and presents the challenge tothe headset, the processing logic of the headset creates a response tothe challenge using the key in the memory of the headset and presentsthe response to the device, and the machine executable code of thedevice determines if the response is valid, and if the response isvalid, enables further communication from the headset to the device, andthe device to the headset; otherwise, if the response is invalid,disables further communication from the headset to the device, while theheadset continues to receive audio from the device to operate as apassive audio listening device; wherein when the terminal is removedfrom the port, the machine executable code of the device disables thedata line to prevent unauthenticated communication from the headset. 14.The system of claim 13, wherein the port is a universal serial bus (USB)port having the data line that is disabled by default.
 15. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the port includes a power line that is maintained inan enabled state to power the headset, prior to authentication of theheadset.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein the challenge is generatedby a management server using the key, the management server interfacingwith the device.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the challenge isgenerated by a personal electronic device using the key, the personalelectronic device paired with the device.
 18. The system of claim 13,wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the device is a seat device at the aircraft for atleast presenting audio content.
 20. The system of claim 13, wherein thetransportation vehicle is one of a train, a bus, a boat and a recreationvehicle.